Further education staff have secured a four per cent pay deal as part of a drive to lift salaries to the same level as teachers and lecturers in other areas of the education system.

Forum Response: Association of Teachers and Lecturers

Gerald Imison, joint acting general secretary at ATL, said: "The original offer of 1.3 per cent caused some ATL members to take the almost unprecedented move of strike action with colleagues in other unions and this seems to have concentrated the minds of the employers. The settlement is a fair one at this stage but much still needs to be done.

"ATL has led the way in the sixth form colleges (funded in the same way) where parity of pay with school teachers has effectively been achieved. The key now is for the Modernising Pay Working Party - which is to report in July - to come up with a similar long-term settlement in FE colleges. This year's backdated award puts the lid on member anger and frustration for the moment, but a failure to find a longer-term solution to the pay problem will see that anger boiling over again.

"We look now to every college to implement the national award as soon as possible but we will have to take note of members' wishes where this does not happen."

Forum Response: NATFHE

Barry Lovejoy, spokesman for NATFHE, said: "We're pleased that we've reached a settlement that will avoid further disruption to colleges this year. Lecturers have supported the deal on the clear understanding that the massive gap between lecturers' and schoolteachers' pay will be addressed in the working party to modernise pay.

"They quite rightly expect and deserve a very significant long term settlement in August this year. Support staff similarly will expect increases to restore their comparability with local government and end low pay. We expect this settlement to be implemented in full in every college."